Sessions
10-Minute Guided Meditation
2:40 PM - 2:50 PM Wed
Invited Keynote: Turn It Up--Amplifying Professional Psychology’s Commitment to Cultural Competence and Innovative Community Engagement (1 CE)
2:15 PM - 3:15 PM Thu
10-Minute Guided Meditation
3:25 PM - 3:35 PM Thu
Dr. Rahul Sharma is a consultant, psychologist, musician, and speaker. His expertise includes the areas of diversity, social justice, multiculturalism, individual/community health, violence against women prevention, music, and healing.
As a consultant, Dr. Sharma most recently partnered with DePaul University’s Theatre School to design and implement training and coaching for students, faculty, and administration system-wide around topics and processes related to diversity, leadership, and conflict resolution. Previously, he trained Evanston’s entire 180-member Police Department on mental health response, integrating issues of diversity and community concerns. Upcoming engagements include being an invited speaker to the Diversity Challenge in October, and as opening Keynote Presenter at the annual Illinois Psychological Association convention in November. He is also Co-chair of the Diversity & Equity Committee for City of Chicago’s Year of Music 2020 Campaign. He is the former Chair of the Division on South Asian Americans, an Asian American Psychology Association (AAPA) subdivision.
Dr. Sharma was an Associate Professor at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology (ISPP) and Chair of its Diversity Concentration for 13 years, teaching courses including Diversity Psychology: Past, Present, Future and Personal and Professional Development, along with supervising wide-ranging psychotherapy work. He also served as Director of the University of Chicago's Resources for Sexual Violence Prevention, reporting early on to then-Associate Dean Michelle Obama. Dr. Sharma’s completed and forthcoming publications include a book chapter on men’s roles in addressing domestic violence in South Asian communities, and on cultural competence in treating inter-partner violence perpetrators. His commitment to address sexism and violence against women won him an award from the Vagina Monologues’ V-Day Celebration.
Dr. Sharma is also founder and bassist/sitarist for the intercultural award-winning music group Funkadesi, which includes diverse members (Indian-American, African-American, Jamaican, Latino, and European-American) who are musicians, activists, educators, and healers.
With Funkadesi and independent of that group, Dr. Sharma has used music as a vehicle for advancing emotional intelligence, leadership, and cultural competence. He harnesses Remo Drums’ evidence-based HealthRhythms protocols and other high-impact approaches to promote healing, growth, group cohesion, and dialogue in multicultural groups. Recently, Dr. Sharma led Funkadesi in presenting an experiential plenary session for 180 conference-goers, with each participant learning a specific cultural rhythm to contribute to a whole-group performance, reflecting the power of diversity and community.
In 2017, Dr. Sharma was the recipient of the Joyce Foundation Award, a commission to co-write a musical piece, “Quantum Englewood,” to provide arts opportunities for youth in high-risk environments. The piece was performed by hundreds of musicians in late 2018. He recently served as an NEA grant review panelist for proposals that apply art to community wellness and equity endeavors.
Dr. Sharma received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, specializing in multicultural psychology. He earned a Bachelor’s in Social Science from the University of Michigan.
CONTACT DR. SHARMA HERE:
Rahul Sharma, Psy.D.
773.220.6711
rahulsharmapsyd@gmail.com